Kettlebell health and safety

I have put together a small feature on kettlebell health and safety. Even if you are a well conditioned gym goer, don't take the safe use of  kettlebells too lightly. A lot of the movements have a strong dynamic element to them as opposed to traditional gym work where weights are moved relatively slowly.

Never start a kettlebell program without following adequate instruction, ideally in a one to one format.


Be sure to start with a manageable weight.
Ideally this is 8 kg for a woman and 12 kg for a man.
If you have previous experience of training with weights then you may be able to progress quite quickly to a 12 kg and a 16kg respectively.

Always make sure you have adequate space around you to swing your kettlebell. These are dynamic movements, not always slow and controlled as in the weights room. Believe me; it is difficult to suddenly alter the path of a swinging 20 kg bell! You need a space of approximately 6 ft by 6 ft around you, and if training indoors, especially if you’re tall, good ceiling height. I f you're over 6 foot tall and you have a fairly standard UK house, you will not be able to snatch a kettlebell without hitting the ceiling!!

My advice would be to train outside (weather permitting) as this will enable you to move aside and simply drop the bell in case you get into difficulties. Trying to recover a wayward bell can easily result in a training injury. If you are training indoors whilst stood on an expensive oak floor and get into difficulties, you will automatically try to recover a wayward bell even if it means injuring yourself!! That's instinct for you.

Don’t buy cheap kettlebells! Please ask me for advice on where to get your kettlebells

Always warm up thoroughly to elevate your heart rate and then mobilise your joints before training.

Never use running shoes for your kettlebell training. Train either barefoot or with flat soled shoes. This enables you to have good sensory communication with the ground in order to receive feedback on correct positioning etc, which is important in kettlebell training.

Start with the basic kettlebell exercises. The swing, the clean, the press, the squat and the Turkish get up.

Look after your hands. You will get calluses, especially at the start. Get yourself a pumice stone and file them down and use plenty of hand cream. Build up your numbers slowly to allow your hands to adjust gradually.

Always warm up and mobilise your joints first. For mobility this can include arm circles, leg swings, hip circles and other similar type movements. Squatting and lunging make for great warm up exercises.

Leave your stretching until you are finished and make this a part of the cooling down process.

Please use common sense with all your kettlebell training. Remember, it’s all about the form, not how much weight you can lift.